Miss Etta Pelsey was living in Saint Marys, a small city in north east Kansas.

The town grew up around the mission where the US government paid an annuity to Indigenous people who were relocated from the Great lakes region.

In 1970, the town was about the same size as it was when Etta lived there, about 1300 people.

Since the 1980’s, the town has attracted more than a thousand new residents due to the formation of a traditional Catholic church and school. The growth of the conservative Catholic community has created some strife with life-long residents.

In May of 1907, Etta received a postcard greeting from a friend in Norman, Oklahoma.

The postcard, printed in the US, is illustrated with small drawings and a cynical verse about kisses.

The illustration was copyrighted in 1907 by Raymond Howe.

The Raymond Howe Company published a variety of paper goods with illustrations.

(Etta may have moved, or been away, when the postcard was delivered.

The postmaster, presumably, wrote the name of another town in Kansas.)

The friend (“Rle”) writes that Etta will not receive the promised picture before Sunday.

The greeting, “My dear Kiddo”, suggests that Etta and her friend had some degree of familiarity.

One hopes that Etta received the promised picture promptly and that she enjoyed the postcard from Oklahoma -which was still a territory in May of 1907.

Someone preserved the comic postcard in good condition for more than a hundred years.